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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

a winter's walk

powdery snow, just lightly falling off my mitten

Today everyone was under the weather and didn't have the energy, nor the interest of going outside for a walk. I on the other hand needed to get out, and so I bundled up and went off with Ryder to the firebreak which is just behind our home.

At this point in my Northern living, I am well versed in how to dress for my outdoor walks.

Snowpants, a parka, a neckwarmer, good mittens, a hat and my Sorrel boots. These are the things that keep me warm and comfortable, and allow me to take off for longer stretches.

My walks have taken on many meanings to me, since moving to our little community. Sometimes it is to observe nature, sometimes it is to get exercise and fresh air, sometimes it is to escape my boredom, sometimes it is to work out my frustrations/loneliness/feelings. Today, I needed to get out. I needed a change of scenery and a walk all alone (well with Ryder of course) was just what I needed.

As I headed down the path, with Ryder bounding off, in and out of the bush, I marveled at the scenery before me. Today was an overcast day, casting a monochromatic colour scheme of greyish/blueish tones across the land. The trees were heavy looking with snow, which is so misleading, as anyone who has lived in the Yukon knows, the snow is as light as a feather. I took a picture to try and show just how light and powdery the snow here is. A far cry from the heavy, wet, thick snow of the East that I grew up with.

I walked on, listening to the crunch crunch crunch of my boots, hitting the snowy ground beneath me. I could hear nothing but my footsteps, the occasional faint tweet of a bird, and Ryder's collar tags clinking together as he zig-zagged in and out of the bush.

My mind wandered to so many things, ideas, people and thoughts, as it so often does when I go for walks. It's like an uninterrupted (no media, no other people) opportunity for my mind to have a stream of consciousness. These walks of mine, are probably the closest thing I have right now to any form of meditation or prayer, something I crave so very much.

With the impending feeling that we are about to learn of where our next posting will be, I feel as though I am really trying to take in and learn to appreciate what I have at this very moment in my life. Where these walks once were a cure to boredom or a desperate place to go- just to get out of the house, I am now seeing them as a true gift of beauty and value. Here is a place, where I am emerssed in nature, completely free to think and be and walk. One day, I might not have such a path, just steps from my home, where I can be completely alone and where Ryder can have the freedom to roam and explore.

A lovely post. It is good that you can appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds you, instead of feeling isolated and oppressed by it. So glad that Ryder found a wonderful home with you guys - I always smile when I see him in your photos.